3: Simple Bonding Theory
- Page ID
- 403006
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)- 3.1: Lewis Electron-Dot Diagrams
- The bonding between atoms in a molecule can be topically modeled though Lewis electron dot diagrams. Creating Lewis diagrams is rather simple and requires only a few steps and some accounting of the valence electrons on each atom. Valence electrons are represented as dots. When two electrons are paired (lone pairs), they are represented by two adjacent dots located on an atom, and when two paired electrons are shared between atoms (bonds), they are shown as lines.
- 3.2: Resonance
- Resonance structures are a set of two or more Lewis Structures that collectively describe the electronic bonding of a single polyatomic species including fractional bonds and fractional charges. Resonance structures are capable of describing delocalized electrons that cannot be expressed by a single Lewis formula with an integral number of covalent bonds.
- 3.4: Formal Charge
- The formal charge of an atom in a molecule is the hypothetical charge the atom would have if we could redistribute the electrons in the bonds evenly between the atoms. Another way of saying this is that formal charge results when we take the number of valence electrons of a neutral atom, subtract the nonbonding electrons, and then subtract the number of bonds connected to that atom in the Lewis structure.
- 3.5: Lewis Fails to Predict Unusual Cases - Boron and Beryllium
- Two notable cases where Lewis theory fails to predict structure is in the cases of beryllium (Be) and boron (B).
- 3.6: Valence Shell Electron-Pair Repulsion
- The Valence Shell Electron Repulsion (VSEPR) model can predict the structure of most molecules and polyatomic ions in which the central atom is a nonmetal; it also works for some structures in which the central atom is a metal. VSEPR builds on Lewis electron dot structures and together can predict the geometry of each atom in a molecule. The main idea of VSEPR theory is that pairs of electrons (in bonds and in lone pairs) repel each other.
- 3.8: Multiple Bonds
- In the previous sections, we saw how to predict the approximate geometry around an atom using VSEPR theory, and we learned that lone pairs of electrons slightly distort bond angles from the "parent" geometry. This page discusses the effect of multiple (double and triple) bonds between bonded atoms.
- 3.9: Electronegativity and Atomic Size Effects
- This section describes how ligand electronegativity and size also influence bond angles and molecular geometry. Electronegativity is generally correlated with atomic size going down any group of the periodic table. There are some cases where bond angles can be predicted by these correlations. However, size and electronegativity can also work as competing factors in determining bond angles.
- 3.10: Ligand Close Packing
- Ligand Close Packing (LCP) theory is complimentary to VSEPR, except that LCP focuses on repulsions between pendant atoms ("outer" atoms that are not directly bonded to one another), rather than focusing on the chemical environment around the central atom in a molecule. Both LCP and the VSEPR models were developed by Robert Gillespie.
- 3.11: Molecular Polarity
- Dipole moments occur when there is a separation of charge. They can occur between two ions in an ionic bond or between atoms in a covalent bond; dipole moments arise from differences in electronegativity. The larger the difference in electronegativity, the larger the dipole moment. The distance between the charge separation is also a deciding factor into the size of the dipole moment. The dipole moment is a measure of the polarity of the molecule.
- 3.12: Hydrogen Bonding
- A hydrogen bond is an intermolecular force (IMF) that forms a special type of dipole-dipole attraction when a hydrogen atom bonded to a strongly electronegative atom exists in the vicinity of another electronegative atom with a lone pair of electrons. Hydrogen bonds are are generally stronger than ordinary dipole-dipole and dispersion forces, but weaker than true covalent and ionic bonds.